Building a Republican Nation in Vietnam, 19201963 (Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University)

Western observers have long considered communism to be synonymous with Vietnam’s modern historical experience. Eager to make sense of the North Vietnamese victory in the Vietnam War, scholars and journalists have spilled much ink on the history of Vietnamese communists. But this preoccupation has obscured the diversity of ideas and experiences that defined Vietnam in the twentieth century, in which communism represented just one of many tendencies. __Building a Republican Nation in Postcolonial Vietnam, 1920–1963,__ posits that republicanism shaped modern Vietnam no less profoundly than communism. Republicans championed representative government, the universal rights of man, civil liberties, and the primacy of the nation. These ideas infused the thinking of Vietnamese reformers, dissidents, and revolutionaries from the 1900s onward, including many men and women who went on to lead the struggle for independence. Republicanism was also one of the chief inspirations for the establishment of the Republic of Vietnam (also known as South Vietnam) in 1955. This interdisciplinary volume brings together eleven essays by historians, political scientists, literary scholars, and sociologists, who make use of fresh sources to study the development of republicanism from the colonial period to the First Republic of Vietnam (1955–1963). The introduction by coeditors Nu-Anh Tran and Tuong Vu critically analyzes the existing scholarship on the First Republic, explains how the concept of republicanism can illuminate developments in the Saigon-based state, and situates the regime in a comparative context with South Korea. Peter Zinoman’s chapter reviews the historiography on republicanism and modern Vietnam and heralds the arrival of the “republican moment” in the field of Vietnam studies. Several chapters by Nguyễn Lương Hải Khôi, Martina Thucnhi Nguyen, and Yen Vu examine the transformation of republican ideas. Nu-Anh Tran and Duy Lap Nguyen explore competing concepts of democracy and the factional politics of the First Republic. The essays by Jason Picard, Cindy Nguyen, Hoàng Phong Tuấn, Nguyễn Thị Minh, and Y Thien Nguyen analyze nation- and state-building efforts in the 1950s and 1960s. Collectively, the essays give voice to Vietnamese republicans, from the ideas they espoused to the institutions they built and the legacies they left behind. Western observers have long considered communism to be synonymous with Vietnam's modern historical experience. Eager to make sense of the North Vietnamese victory in the Vietnam War, scholars and journalists have spilled much ink on the history of Vietnamese communists. But this preoccupation has obscured the diversity of ideas and experiences that defined Vietnam in the twentieth century, in which communism represented just one of many tendencies. Building a Republican Nation in Postcolonial Vietnam, 1920-1963, posits that republicanism shaped modern Vietnam no less profoundly than communism. Republicans championed representative government, the universal rights of man, civil liberties, and the primacy of the nation. These ideas infused the thinking of Vietnamese reformers, dissidents, and revolutionaries from the 1900s onward, including many men and women who went on to lead the struggle for independence. Republicanism was also one of the chief inspirations for the establishment of the Republic of Vietnam (also known as South Vietnam) in 1955.This interdisciplinary volume brings together eleven essays by historians, political scientists, literary scholars, and sociologists, who make use of fresh sources to study the development of republicanism from the colonial period to the First Republic of Vietnam (1955-1963). The introduction by coeditors Nu-Anh Tran and Tuong Vu critically analyzes the existing scholarship on the First Republic, explains how the concept of republicanism can illuminate developments in the Saigon-based state, and situates the regime in a comparative context with South Korea. Peter Zinoman's chapter reviews the historiography on republicanism and modern Vietnam and heralds the arrival of the "republican moment" in the field of Vietnam studies. Several chapters by Nguyen Luong Hai Khoi, Martina Thucnhi Nguyen, and Yen Vu examine the transformation of republican ideas. Nu-Anh Tran and Duy Lap Nguyen explore competing concepts of democracy and the factional politics of the First Republic. The essays by Jason Picard, Cindy Nguyen, Hoang Phong Tuan, Nguyen Thi Minh, and Y Thien Nguyen analyze nation- and state-building efforts in the 1950s and 1960s. Collectively, the essays give voice to Vietnamese republicans, from the ideas they espoused to the institutions they built and the legacies they left behind

Western observers have long considered communism to besynonymous with Vietnam's modern historical experience. Eager tomake sense of the North Vietnamese victory in the Vietnam War,scholars and journalists have spilled much ink on the history ofVietnamese communists. But this preoccupation has obscured thediversity of ideas and experiences that defined Vietnam in thetwentieth century, in which communism represented just one of manytendencies. Building a Republican Nation in Vietnam, 1920-1963,posits that republicanism shaped modern Vietnam no less profoundlythan communism. Republicans championed representative government,the universal rights of man, civil liberties, and the primacy ofthe nation. These ideas infused the thinking of Vietnamesereformers, dissidents, and revolutionaries from the 1900s onward,including many men and women who went on to lead the struggle forindependence. Republicanism was also one of the chief inspirationsfor the establishment of the Republic of Vietnam (also known asSouth Vietnam) in 1955. This interdisciplinary volume bringstogether eleven essays by historians, political scientists,literary scholars, and sociologists, who make use of fresh sourcesto study the development of republicanism from the colonial periodto the First Republic of Vietnam (1955-1963). The introduction bycoeditors Nu-Anh Tran and Tuong Vu critically analyzes the existingscholarship on the First Republic, explains how the concept ofrepublicanism can illuminate developments in the Saigon-basedstate, and situates the regime in a comparative context with SouthKorea. Peter Zinoman's chapter reviews the historiography onrepublicanism and modern Vietnam and heralds the arrival of the"republican moment" in the field of Vietnam studies. Severalchapters by Nguyễn Lương Hải Khôi, Martina Thucnhi Nguyen, and YenVu examine the transformation of republican ideas. Nu-Anh Tran andDuy Lap Nguyen explore competing concepts of democracy and thefactional politics of the First Republic. The essays by JasonPicard, Cindy Nguyen, Hoàng Phong Tuấn, Nguyễn Thị Minh, and YThien Nguyen analyze nation- and state-building efforts in the1950s and 1960s. Collectively, the essays give voice to Vietnameserepublicans, from the ideas they espoused to the institutions theybuilt and the legacies they left behind.

"Western observers have long considered communism to be synonymous with Vietnam's modern historical experience. Eager to make sense of the North Vietnamese victory in the Vietnam War, scholars and journalists have spilled much ink on the history of Vietnamese communists. But this preoccupation has obscured the diversity of ideas and experiences that defined Vietnam in the twentieth century, in which communism represented just one of many tendencies. Building a Republican Nation in Vietnam, 1920-1963, posits that republicanism shaped modern Vietnam no less profoundly than communism. Republicans championed representative government, the universal rights of man, civil liberties, and the primacy of the nation. These ideas infused the thinking of Vietnamese reformers, dissidents, and revolutionaries from the 1900s onward, including many men and women who went on to lead the struggle for independence. Republicanism was also one of the chief inspirations for the establishment of the Republic of Vietnam (also known as South Vietnam) in 1955. This interdisciplinary volume brings together eleven essays by historians, political scientists, literary scholars, and sociologists, who make use of fresh sources to study the development of republicanism from the colonial period to the First Republic of Vietnam (1955-1963). The introduction by coeditors Nu-Anh Tran and Tuong Vu critically analyzes the existing scholarship on the First Republic, explains how the concept of republicanism can illuminate developments in the Saigon-based state, and situates the regime in a comparative context with South Korea. Collectively, the essays give voice to Vietnamese republicans, from the ideas they espoused to the institutions they built and the legacies they left behind"-- Provided by publisher Contents Acknowledgments Abbreviations INTRODUCTION Rethinking Vietnamese Republicanism CHAPTER ONE A Republican Moment in the Study of Modern Vietnam CHAPTER TWO Early Republicans’ Concept of the Nation: Trần Trọng Kim and Việt Nam sử lược CHAPTER THREE The Self-Reliant Literary Group and Colonial Republicanism in the 1930s CHAPTER FOUR Trần Văn Tùng’s Vision of a New Nationalism for a New Vietnam CHAPTER FIVE How Democratic Should Vietnam Be? The Constitutional Transition of 1955–1956 and the Debate on Democracy CHAPTER SIX Personalism, Liberal Capitalism, and the Strategic Hamlet Campaign CHAPTER SEVEN “They Eat the Flesh of Children” Migration, Resettlement, and Sectionalism in South Vietnam, 1954–1957 CHAPTER EIGHT Creating the National Library in Saigon Colonial Legacies, Republican Visions, and Reading Publics, 1946–1958 CHAPTER NINE Striving for the Quintessence Building a New Identity of National Literature Based on Creative Freedom CHAPTER TEN When State Propaganda Becomes Social Knowledge Bibliography Contributors Index